


clocks.

by ElysiumDreams



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Clock Heart AU?????, Coffee Shops, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Romance, Soulmates, Unbeta'd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-27 04:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12073107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElysiumDreams/pseuds/ElysiumDreams
Summary: AU where a person's heart is kept inside of a pocket watch, so giving someone your heart is both literal and figurative.Lai Guanlin loses his heart on his first day in town, and Park Jihoon is the cute coffee shop barista that finds it.





	1. shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anYways I've descended into Wanna One hell... Help. I really wanted to write some panwink since they're my favorite, and I saw this idea floating around on Tumblr. I thought it was perfect, so I'm giving it a shot :')
> 
> I have everything planned out, it just needs to be written, really. Hopefully this means quick updates, and I'm aiming for at least once every other week (though don't hold me to this ;;)
> 
> Also, I'm trying to add all of Wanna One somewhere in the cast, but it's kind of hard... I'll do my best though, so bear with me!
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

By the time Guanlin finishes unpacking the last box, it’s already midnight. It’s eerily quiet, the wind howling outside, and the moon shining outside of his window, a bright white crescent in the sky.

He takes a quick look around his new room; it’s nice and neat for now, but he’s sure that’s bound to change soon. He hasn’t gotten to sorting out his closet yet, but it’s not an immediate concern. Tomorrow he’ll do it. For now, it remains half open, clothes strewn about in a way that he’s sure his mother would screech at him for. With a sigh, he plops to the bed, adorned with navy sheets and a matching comforter.

Exhausted. That’s one word to describe how he feels. He had been unpacking his things since this morning, with little breaks for lunch and dinner. _Finally done_ , he thinks to himself, staring up at the blank white ceilings for a moment, then throws an arm over his eyes. It’s calming, and he’s grateful that he can finally rest.

After a moment, he looks over to the desk that’s adjacent to his bed. Sitting there at the corner is a small pocket watch. It’s circular in shape, the exterior shining a bright and brilliant gold, with his name engraved in cursive on the back. Despite it’s neat appearance, it seems ordinary.

But Guanlin knows it’s not.

In the silence of his room, he hears it. The clock ticks, but it’s not a simple _tick tock, tick tock._ Rather, it’s quite like a heartbeat, a small stutter between each _tick tock, tick tock_ of the small pocket watch. On occasion, it changes. The ticking is quicker, or maybe slower, and Guanlin feels it in his chest every time that it happens.

He reaches over and picks up the watch, holding it up in front of his face and staring at it like it’s the most peculiar thing in the world.

Because no matter what, Guanlin doesn’t think that he’ll ever get used to the idea that he can hold his own heart in his hands.

Of course, there’s still a science to it, as he had learned at an early age. That heart that exists in his chest, that one is real. But the one that he’s holding… It’s real too. Each tick is in sync with the beating of his heart in his chest. And maybe, in terms of health, the one in his body is important.

But the watch in his hands… Guanlin can’t live without it either.

“ _You know how daddy and I say that we love you with all our heart?_ ” his mother explains to him when he’s young, as she’s placing the watch in his hands for the first time. “ _That’s the kind of heart that this is._ ”

It’s metaphorical, if anything. But it’s still important.

“ _When you’re all grown up, you can give your heart to someone that you want to love for the rest of your life._ ”

That’s how it works, Guanlin’s told, and it’s what he’s seen, too. Even separated by hundreds of miles, his mother’s heart is ticking where it sits on his father’s nightstand, and his father’s heart lies somewhere near his mother’s head as she sleeps. Day by day, they keep each other’s hearts safe.

Guanlin can only hope to find someone to keep his heart safe one day. Heaven knows he needs it.

“Almost lost you again today,” he says to the watch as he flicks it open, observing the hands as they tick abnormally. He thinks back to a few hours ago, when he had almost lost the watch amidst the mess in his room as he unpacked. And it wasn’t uncommon for him to lose it, either. That had only been one of many instances in which his heart had gone missing.

“Won’t lose you again…” he says softly before closing the watch and setting it back on his desk. He flicks off the lamp, and the room goes dark as he settles in his bed, throwing the comforters over his body. Once he’s comfortable, he closes his eyes, and allows himself to sleep.

Tomorrow, he’d begin his new life in Korea.

-

It doesn't occur to Guanlin that he hardly knows Korean until he's in line for some coffee the next morning and struggling to read the hangul that's up on the chalkboard.

His eyes flicker past the frames of his glasses as he nervously fiddles with the hem of his t-shirt. A simple greeting, he can manage, but.. should he order in Mandarin or English? English was more common around here.. right?

Anxiously, he peeks around to see how many people are still in front of him— two, he counts. He has enough time to figure out what he wants and how he's going to say it, fumbling over the words in his head a few times in preparation.

 _Just this once, Guanlin. You can do this,_ he tells himself.

Soon enough, he's next in line, and as the customer before him steps away from the counter, Guanlin nearly trips over his feet as he walks up.

“Ah, hello--...” Guanlin says quietly in Korean.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” the barista says, but he doesn't understand a word of it, his face scrunching distastefully in response.

“Um.. I don't--... I can't speak…” he stutters, scratching behind his neck uncertainly. He checks to make sure there's no one waiting in line behind him. When he looks forward again, the barista is looking at him with slight confusion in his eyes. His cheeks, albeit already rather full, are puffed out a bit, and his brow is brow is raised in curiosity. His light fringe falls just above his eyes, suiting his cute and round face, Guanlin thinks.

But it still doesn't change the fact that he doesn't understand what he's just said.

Guanlin looks down a little at his shoes, biting his lip nervously and mutters to himself nervously in Mandarin. The barista leans in a little to catch what he's saying.

“I-- can you speak English?” he asks in English with a heavy accent, but it's still understandable, and Guanlin looks up hopefully. He nods rapidly, and the smile on the boy’s face grows a little in response. “Ah, okay.. What can I get for you?”

Guanlin himself can't help but smile too. His English isn't the best either, but he figures it's best to communicate with the barista like this rather than attempting to overcome another language barrier altogether. He visibly relaxes, grinning at the other male.

“Americano..?” he says, and the boy notes it immediately, typing it up in the computer and then writing a label onto one of the cups. Then he smiles up at Guanlin again.

“Anything else?”

Guanlin shakes his head quietly, and takes out his wallet so he can pay. In broken English, he reads out the price. He pays him immediately, collecting his change before bowing politely at the barista, then shuffling over to the side.

“Wait--” he calls out, and Guanlin stops in his tracks, looking over at him again. He has the cup in his hands and a permanent marker. “What's your name?”

Guanlin looks up at him, taken by surprise at first before he relaxes a little, smiling softly. “Guanlin.”

The barista smiles back, repeating the name back to him as he writes it on the cup. He decides then that he likes the way it sounds rolling off of his tongue.

When he’s finished, he shows the cup to Guanlin, and written on it in neat handwriting is his name, spelled perfectly in black ink. Guanlin grins and gives him a thumbs up.

The barista seems satisfied, and he finally gets to work, making his drink as he steps aside to wait. For a moment, he can help but watch him as prepares his drink. He’s quite handsome, Guanlin thinks, and as youthful as he looks, there's a certain charm in the way he speaks and carries himself.

As he's making his drink, the barista suddenly looks up and his eyes meet Guanlin’s. He watches as a tiny smile spreads on his face, and as endearing as it is, Guanlin feels his heart skip a beat, and he nervously looks away, pulling out his phone and starts scrolling through his it to make it seem as if he hadn't been staring the whole time.

“Your drink is ready,” he hears a voice call, and he looks up to see the same barista holding his drink out over the counter and still smiling at him. Guanlin tucks his phone away before taking the drink off of his hands with another polite bow.

“Thank you--” he attempts in Korean, then shyly scurries off to the nearest table, an empty booth near the front of the cafe.

When he sits, he notices the writing on his cup. ‘Hello’ is written just underneath his name, neatly in English, followed by another name that Guanlin spells out silently in his head.

 _Jihoon_.

Beside the name is a little heart, and while it's little, it still manages to make his own heart thump a little in his chest, and he's pretty sure that the watch in his pocket ticks in a similar rhythm.

When he looks up, Guanlin realizes he can still see the counter from where he’s sitting. Jihoon’s there, casually talking to another employee as he tidies up the counter a little bit. He listens as he laughs. The sound is joyful and melodic, and he feels his heart skip again before he's turning away, looking down at the cup of coffee and running his fingers over the name scrawled on it.

Jihoon.

-

When he gets back home that evening, Guanlin’s sister is sitting at the kitchen island, a stack of books beside her and some notes in front of her. He sets his empty cup of coffee on the island (he doesn't know why, but he doesn't have the heart to throw it away, not just yet), before picking up one of the books and reading the title.

“You're learning Korean?”

She looks up at him and nods before tidying up her books a little, straightening up the stack. “Dad wants us to learn as much as we can before he enrolls us at the high school in a few months. He bought you some copies too--”

At that, she reaches to grab a plastic bag, and it's contents make a heavy thud as she places it on the table. He doesn't even have to look to know that it's the same books that she has sprawled over the counters. Still, his eyes light up in curiosity as he takes a look anyways, pushing the plastic aside to peek at the book that's on top.

Playfully, he grins up at his older sister. “I bet I can learn more in a month than you can.”

His sister only laughs, rolls her eyes at his words. “Please. I know you're smart, but I'm pretty smart myself, you know. Don't get too full of yourself.”

Guanlin laughs back before taking the books, starts to make his way upstairs and towards his room, calling out to her as he leaves-- “Don't study too hard!”

She shoos him off as she gets back to work, and Guanlin closes the door behind him.

Once he's in his room, he plops on to the bed with an exasperated sigh, lying there for a moment. Then he turns over onto his back before plucking one of the books and reading the title again. _Understanding Basic Korean,_ it says, and somehow, he's excited.

He likes to learn, truthfully, and he's sure that learning a new language would be rewarding. After all, he'd be living in Korea for the next few years, he's sure that it'd be much easier for him if he knows the language.

Curiously, he flips open the front cover and glances at the title page. The title is written again, along with the author, and a few illustrations that accompany the text. There's a pencil and some letters of the Korean alphabet, a small drawing of a clock, and--

 _Wait_.

 _At_ the sight of the clock, Guanlin feels panic strike his chest. He sits up suddenly, reaching into his front pockets, then his back pockets, frantically searching for the little pocket watch that carried his heart. But he comes back empty each time, even when he turns his pockets inside out.

He sighs defeatedly before falling back on to the bed again.

Not even one day in a new country, and Guanlin has already lost his heart.

-

“Are you sure you're okay closing the rest of the shop by yourself, Jihoon-ah?”

Jihoon looks up from the booth that he's wiping down, and standing near the exit is his manager, Minhyun, dressed in a nice shirt and slacks. He peeks up at the clock on the wall. 6:30, it reads.

With a smile, he nods in response. “I’ll be fine, I promise. I’m almost done anyways. Now go, or you'll be late for your date with Jaehwan!”

At that, his manager blushes, rolling his eyes playfully. Still he acknowledges his words and starts to head out the door. “Thanks again, Jihoon! I owe you!” And then he exits, leaving Jihoon to finish closing the cafe by himself.

He’s almost done, really. He’s made a mental list of things he needs to do— closing the register, cleaning the shakers and blenders, restocking everything… Everything’s been taken care of. All he needs to do is finish wiping up the tables, and he’d be good to go.

When he gets to the last booth, Jihoon notices something out of the corner of his eye. It catches the light, and ultimately, his attention. He squints a little as he nears it, reaching out to pick it up, and--

_A heart?_

Jihoon stares peculiarly at the watch in his hand. It's pretty, he thinks, so clean and well taken care of… Well, not considering the fact that the owner has lost it. He frowns a little at the thought, examining it again and trying to find and hints that tell him who it belongs to.

There on the back of the watch reads Lai Guanlin, and Jihoon’s eyes widen at the familiarity of the name.

Now, Jihoon had gone through plenty of customers everyday. But it was hard not to remember the tall foreign kid who had come in earlier that morning, hardly speaking a lick of Korean. Jihoon recalls struggling himself with his English, but overall, he’s just been glad that he had been able to communicate with him at all. Admittedly, the boy was cute, and Jihoon would be lying to say that he hadn't caught himself thinking about him a few times throughout the day.

Hesitantly, Jihoon begins to opens up the pocket watch to peek inside. It's wrong to do this, he knows. The heart was only meant to be opened by oneself, or the loved one that they trusted their heart to but…

No, he can't. It feels wrong, and Jihoon wouldn't do that to a stranger that he hardly knows, no matter what kind of attraction he may have to him. Carefully he closes the small pocket watch until he hears it shut with a small click.

He sighs softly before looking at the watch again, blinking at it as he holds it in his hands. In that moment, he becomes aware of his own heart, beating in his chest, ticking quietly in his pocket.

Then he brings Guanlin’s heart up, close to his ear. It ticks rhythmically, just like any heart would. But it feels strangely intimate, to hear his heart beating like this. Jihoon somehow feels calm and at peace, just listening to the sound.

He’d give it back when he sees him again, Jihoon promises himself. But that night, he takes Guanlin’s heart home with him, tucking it safely into his pocket and holding it close to his.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's really hard writing and including a language barrier, and also including it as a plot point ;; also I hope the whole clock heart thing is understandable. If not, just hit me up in the comments or something with any questions you might have! Thanks!
> 
> talk to me on twitter: @hyukbinified  
> buy me a kofi (please? ;u;): http://ko-fi.com/caesthetics


	2. morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update for Guanlin's birthday!! There's very little Panwink here though, just some plot development and introduction to more characters. Things will pick up soon though, I promise!

  
Guanlin’s lost his heart before. Plenty of times actually. When he was younger, he lost it on the second day of first grade One of his classmates found it on the playground at lunch and returned it to him right away. Similarly, he’d lost it at a basketball match in the locker room, but the next day, his coach returned it to him, and all had been alright again.

But this is different. This isn't school, some place he can be taken care of. This is a new country, far from home. He hardly knows anyone, and he barely knows his way around town.

Guanlin sighs heavily as he finishes his breakfast and sets his bowl in the sink, heading back upstairs to get ready for the day. It's important that he finds his heart, and it's important that he does it as soon as possible.

His heart… The idea of giving it to someone one day.. it's not like he's dying to do so. Especially when he's still so young. His parents had met when they were young, but Guanlin isn't in a rush. While the idea is endearing and sweet, he knows that he's still got his whole life ahead of him to find “the one.”

Still, that doesn't mean he isn't worried about it falling into the hands of someone who wouldn't take care of it, especially in the case that he's misplaced it like this.

As he dresses, he recalls all the places he had been yesterday. The coffee shop, of course. Then there had been the grocery store too, and a brief visit to the park to get some fresh air… Could he have lost it in any of those places?

He throws on a comfy sweater and some jeans, slips on a pair of sneakers. There's a pocket handbook of conversational Korean sitting on his desk, one of the books his father bought for him yesterday. He takes it with him, tucking it in his pocket and heads out.

-

His first destination is the coffee shop, of course. The bell attached to the door rings when he opens it, and immediately, he's greeted by gentle music, the sweet smell of coffee and baked goods as the scent wafts throughout the store. It's early still, but the shop already has a few customers lingering, sipping on a cup of coffee as they read the news, enjoying their easy Saturday morning.

Guanlin wishes he could be that carefree right now. Instead, he feels a little wave of anxiety wash over him as he enters, making his way towards the front counter.

There's no line, he notices. Part of him hopes that the cute employee that he had met yesterday would be there, Jihoon, but instead there's someone else. He's restocking the cups as Guanlin walks up, and when he notices him, he offers a bright smile. “Hello!” he greets warmly.

Guanlin gives him a nervous smile in response, and while his fingers itch to pull out the little handbook in his pocket, he tries to recall what he had learned last night before resorting to it. “Hello--” he speaks carefully and slowly in broken Korean. “Do you speak English or Mandarin…?”

For a moment, the boy only blinks at him blankly, and Guanlin thinks he's going to have to break out the pocketbook after all. But then he smiles again, nodding excitedly. “I do!” he says in fluent English. “I can speak English. How can I help you?”

And then it's Guanlin’s turn to blink at the other, surprised by how clear his English is. He sighs gratefully and offers another smile. “Ah, thank goodness.. I’m-- I’m new in town and I lost my heart yesterday… I was wondering if anyone found it here…?”

The employee furrows his brow, and his first instinct is to look around the kitchen, like somehow, his pocket watch heart has gotten lost back there. Then he looks back up at Guanlin, pursing his lips softly. “Um, let me check in the back to see if anyone turned anything in--”

Guanlin nods in response, then watches as the employee disappears into a set of double doors, leaving him out front by himself. He takes a look around, and out of the corner of his eye, he spots another employee, cleaning up some of the equipment in the kitchen. He looks around Jihoon’s age, Guanlin thinks, around the same height with an incredibly small face.

Then, as if he feels eyes on him, he looks up at Guanlin, and Guanlin nearly jumps, looking away in a feeble attempt to pretend that he hadn't been staring.

Just then, the other employee returns, and Guanlin can tell from the look on his face that he doesn't have good news for him. “Sorry,” he apologizes, “I didn't find anything.”

At that, Guanlin sighs softly, looking down dejectedly at his shoes. Well, at least that's one place down, he thinks. “I see.. Well, thank you..” he responds, giving another polite bow to the other, before turning to leave.

“Wait--!”

Guanlin turns abruptly, and he sees the other still standing there, a hand up to catch his attention. “You said you're new here? Where did you move from?”

At the question, he blinks a little and faces him properly again. “Ah, I moved from Taipei.. My father is here for work, and he took my sister and I with him.. My mother stayed behind because she's sick.”

The employee gives a little nod in understanding, then offers a small smile, extending his hand out to him over the counter. “Well, you're welcome to come here whenever, I’ll get you free drinks! I’m not really supposed to give them out, but, the owner is cool, I don't think he’ll mind.”

Truthfully, Guanlin is still a little surprised at how forward the other is, but he accepts his hand anyways and gives it a shake, something that really pleases the other, at least, he thinks so from the satisfied grin on his face. “Thank you, um…?”

“Oh, Daehwi!” he says brightly. “I’m Daehwi, it's nice to meet you.”

Guanlin smiles, repeating the name over and over again in his head so he doesn't forget it. “Daehwi,” he says, and it sounds weird leaving his lips with the language still new to him, but he thinks he’ll get used to it eventually. “I’m Guanlin. Nice to meet you too.”

Daehwi beams brightly before turning around and gesturing behind him. “This is Jinyoung, he works a lot with me. And my manager Jisung is in the back right now, but I think you'll meet him soon, and one of my other coworkers is running late today, so you'll probably meet him too--”

It's a lot of information, Guanlin thinks, and he isn't sure that he's going to remember it all the next time he comes here, but he makes an attempt to process it anyways, smiling crookedly as he offers a wave to Jinyoung in the back of the kitchen.

“Ah, okay--” Guanlin nods.

“Do you want anything to drink before you leave?” Daehwi asks. Guanlin just shakes his head and chuckles softly.

“I'm okay for now. Next time though, okay? I promise.”

It's enough for Daehwi, and he nods in acknowledgment. “Alright, see you then. Good luck finding your heart!”

With that, Guanlin heads out, thanking the other for the wishes.

He'd really need it. Luck never seemed to be on his side.

-

Jihoon is late.

His sleeps through his alarm clock when it goes off in the morning, and then he misses his bus, has to wait another ten minutes for the next one to arrive. By that time, he's already thirty minutes late, his heart beating anxiously in his chest and ticking in his pocket.

In his hand, he holds Guanlin’s watch, running his thumb gently over the front of its smooth surface. He can faintly hear it ticking, and even in such a stressful moment, it brings him a little bit of peace.

Outside, Guanlin walks by, the bus rushing pass him as he heads downtown.

-

By the time Guanlin arrives back home, he's exhausted, and decides that he needs to buy a bus pass soon so he can get around town easier.

Not only do his feet hurt, but he still hasn't found his heart.

Feeling defeated, Guanlin plops onto the couch in the living room with a heavy sigh. His dad is already home from work, settled on the couch with a beer, and immediately he notices his son’s mood. “What's wrong, Guanlin?”

Guanlin freezes a little at being acknowledged. He doesn't like to lie, but there's no way he can tell his father that his heart is missing. He'd freak out and worry, and Guanlin’s afraid that his own poor heart would stop ticking, beating as a result. He couldn't do that to him.

Instead, he peers up at him with a feigned, tired smile. “Just tired. Had a long day.”

“Oh?” his father says in amusement. “What did you do?”

Guanlin sits up so he can better converse with his father. “Just.. explore again? I went to the coffee shop. I made some friends there, so I think I’ll visit again sometime soon.”

His father seems happy to hear this, a wide smile spreading over his features. “Ah, I see. I’m glad you're settling well then. Get some rest, we'll have dinner together soon.”

With that, Guanlin offers him another bright smile and nods in understanding. Then he's off to his room, closing the door behind him before he's sitting on the bed, frustratedly running a hand though his dark hair.

Where the _hell_ is his heart?

He groans in frustration, falling backwards into his sheets. At least the day wasn't a total failure, he thinks. He had made a friend, and was promised a few more. Though the thought of not finding his heart occupies most of his thoughts, he's still grateful to Daehwi for introducing himself, and even to Jinyoung, who hardly even spoke a word to him, had just glanced shyly at him from the back of the kitchen.

Even without his heart, he wants to make his time here in Korea a good one, fill it with good people. And the coffee shop seems like just the place.

He thinks back to yesterday, to the other barista that had helped him out… Jihoon, he remembers. The cup he had given him still sits on his desk, emptied out and cleaned, but Guanlin can still read his name on its surface. He's most eager to meet him again. Guanlin likes how brightly he had smiled, and how kind he had been.

“Jihoon…” he says to himself, and he feels little goosebumps over his arms, a little grin forming on his lips as the name rolls off of his tongue. “Jihoon--” he says again.

“Who’s Jihoon--?” a voice interrupts, and when Guanlin looks up, his sister Juiyu is standing in the threshold, smiling at him playfully and awaiting an explanation. Guanlin blinks in surprise before scrambling for a weak excuse.

“I-- nothing, just a friend--” he says, waving his hands in front of him.

“Ah,” his sister says and doesn't press the issue any further. But she does enter his room and sits beside him on his bed. He sits up, and immediately he notices the mischievous smile on her face. Guanlin raises a brow.

“What?”

“You've been acting a little suspicious,” she says. “You left this morning without saying anything, and you've been gone all day.”

Guanlin blinks in surprise, and his mind starts racing at a hundred miles an hour to come up with an excuse. “Oh-- I just wanted to explore a little--”

In response, his sister looks at him in disbelief. “You did that yesterday.”

“I'm not going to memorize the entire town in one day--”

“You lost your heart already, didn't you?”

Guanlin freezes up at her words, and immediately, he wants to curse her, but he bites down hard on his tongue. He doesn't blame himself, because truthfully, he thinks he had done a good job at hiding the fact that his heart is missing. But he's always had this close relationship with his sister, where it almost feels like they can read each other’s mind, sense each other’s stress and emotions. And while it seemed cool sometimes, Guanlin thinks that now definitely isn't one of those times.

With the look on his face, Juiyu grins triumphantly. “Knew it.”

“Don't tell dad,” Guanlin begs immediately, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I won't!” she says reassuringly, and Guanlin lights up-- “Just one thing--” and then he deflates again.

“What?” There's a hint of irritation in his voice as he looks at her expectantly.

“Buy me something nice tomorrow when you go out to look for it, okay?” she says with a bright smile, and Guanlin’s eyes widen a little.

“What? That's it?”

Juiyu sits up and nods, already intent on leaving his room. “I wasn't going to seriously blackmail you, I’ve got no reason to. But I also don't want to intrude on whatever time you've got to yourself all day so… Just bring me something back when you come home tomorrow, okay?”

As she leaves, Guanlin watches her, still a little dumbfounded and surprised at her words. At the last second, she turns again, peeking past the frame of his door.

“Oh, and please find your heart as soon as possible, before dad throws a fit.”

With that, she's gone again, and Guanlin takes another moment before he's flopping back onto his bed again, letting out a loud and heavy sigh.

-

“Ah, back so soon?”

Daehwi is the first person to greet Guanlin when he arrives at the coffee shop the next morning, and it's mostly because he's the one who had see him struggling to open the door. He’s so tired. Last night he had stayed up late to study Korean, and as a result, he hadn't even noticed that the coffee shop was technically still closed at his arrival, and wouldn't open for another 15 minutes.

But Daehwi had spotted him and opened the door anyways, ruffling Guanlin’s still messy and unbrushed hair.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to come before you opened--” He says, but he enters the store anyways, following behind Daehwi.

“It's okay, we’re just finishing up!” he says, and starts to unstack all the chairs that had been put up on the tables. Guanlin decides to help him to be polite, but he stays quiet, instead enjoys the soft music that's playing through the speakers, even if it makes him feel even more groggy than he already is.

As he's bringing the last chair down, someone emerges from the back door in the kitchen. Guanlin hears it screech open, and it immediately catches his attention.

There, with his hands pressed firmly onto the front counter, with a round face and soft, wispy light brown hair falling over his forehead, with bright eyes and pretty lips is Jihoon, and Guanlin almost drops the chair he's holding.

“Yah, Daehwi, can you--?” Jihoon starts in Korean, but pauses halfway through when he notices the tall, lanky foreign boy that's standing in the middle of the coffee shop, helping Daehwi open up. When his eyes meet his, and Guanlin feels his heart skip a beat.

“Ah, hello,” he says in his native tongue, offering a crooked smile, and setting the chair down before he actually _does_ drop the thing.

Jihoon just stares for a minute, then opens up his mouth to speak.

“Hi.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw when you wanna write slow burn but you suck at it because you're such a sucker for love at first sight. that's always be tbh
> 
> come talk to me on twitter: @hyukbinified  
> buy me a kofi (please? ;u;): http://ko-fi.com/caesthetics


	3. hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> small, update, mostly filler/fluff.

Jihoon recognizes Guanlin the second that he lays eyes on him again.

Of course, he's a bit confused; the store is technically still closed, and yet here he is a chair in his hands as he stares blankly at him on the other side of the counter. Jihoon wishes he could tell what he's thinking, but his stare is blank and unreadable.

The little “hi” he murmurs in response is lame, but he can't think of anything else to say, especially with a language barrier between them. His eyes shift over to Daehwi— the two of them could probably communicate well, with Daehwi knowing English, and Guanlin knowing it too.

He's not jealous, he swears to himself.

Still, despite Jihoon’s awkwardness, he thinks that Guanlin is just as awkward, as he stares back, unsure of what to say next. Jihoon watches as he plucks a little book out of his back pocket, flipping through it and squinting at the fine text. A little “ah” escapes his lips, and then he's smiling, looking back up at Jihoon as he speaks.

“Good morning!” he says in slurred Korean. Jihoon blinks in surprise, his eyes shifting from Guanlin to Daehwi, who looks just as amused.

Then a smile spreads, and he's looking back at Guanlin again. “That was cute.”

Guanlin tilts his head, not understanding his words.

“He said you're cute,” Daehwi interrupts, speaking to Guanlin in English. He nods in understanding, before chuckling in embarrassment and rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Thank you,” he says, a clearer pronunciation than before. Jihoon just smiles brightly in response.

“Are you learning to speaking Korean?” Daehwi asks, and Jihoon can barely understand the English words. But he nods anyways, peeking down at the book in his hands again.

“Ooh-- I know someone who can help tutor you! He speaks English pretty well too, so I'm sure he can help. I would volunteer to, but I’m really busy with work and school right now too, heh..”

“Ah, that would be great!” Guanlin smiles, and Jihoon only follows their conversation with wide eyes.

“Cool! Gives you an excuse to visit more often too--” Daehwi grins and pats Guanlin in the back, then looks over to Jihoon, who's still staring at the two, a look of wonder in his sleek eyes. “Jihoon-hyung, can you turn on the open sign now? It’s 8 am.”

Jihoon doesn't even notice the trance-like state he's in until Daehwi starts speaking to him again in Korean. He blinks himself awake again before nodding in response, reaching for the little remote under the counter to turn on the open sign, just as Daehwi had asked.

When he puts it away, then looks back up, Guanlin is there, right in front of the counter and with a bright wide smile on his face.

“Hello--” he says again, and Jihoon laughs in response.

“Hi. Do you want something?”

“Americano!” he responds. Jihoon’s heart beats fast in his chest, and the sounds reminds him--

Oh. That's right. He still has Guanlin’s heart, the little pocket watch ticking away in the pocket of his jeans. Jihoon’s face falls as he remembers, and as Guanlin stares at him in confusion, Jihoon looks back, scanning the other’s face as he struggles to find the words to say.

It's not like it's hard. Even with the language barrier, all Jihoon has to do is hand over the item. He doesn't even have to say a single word.

But then he remembers last night, and the night before it, how he had slept with Guanlin’s heart near to his head. Somehow, the sound had been calming to him; it was melodic and smooth, and Jihoon wanted to hear it again and again, no matter how selfish that made him.

So is it wrong of him to keep it like this…? With the owner standing right in front of him? He bites his lip nervously as he thinks, and the action doesn't go unnoticed by Guanlin.

“What's wrong?” he asks, and Jihoon quickly snaps out of it.

“Ah, nothing! Nothing really, I just zoned out, don't worry about it--” he talks so quickly, that he almost forgets that Guanlin barely knows Korean, yet here he is, babbling off to him. When he finally catches himself, his skin is red in embarrassment, and Guanlin looks even more confused than he had been before.

“Sorry--” Jihoon says again when he calms down, this time in a language Guanlin can understand. “I'm okay, I’ll make your drink!”

Then he turns around, making Guanlin’s drink again just as promised.

He decides then and there that he won't tell Guanlin that he has his heart until he's able to tell it to him in Korean, and that Guanlin would be able to understand it. That's fair, right? At least, that's what he tells himself.

It’s just that, for now, at least, he doesn't want to let it go.

 _Sorry, Guanlin,_ he thinks to himself, as he's handing his drink over, smiling at him with a soft and apologetic look on his face.

Guanlin seems unbothered, however, and only thanks him one more time before disappearing into the same booth he had sat in on his first day here. He watches as he pulls a textbook out of his bag, buries his nose in it without any sense of the world around him.

Without knowing that Jihoon has his heart in his pocket, and reaches inside to hold it gently in his hand.

-

Guanlin’s tutor’s name is Daniel, and Daehwi introduces him later that day, when, by chance, Daniel walks in with his boyfriend Seongwoo. Daehwi is loud all of a sudden, rushing over to the older males and breaking Guanlin’s concentration as he reads over a paragraph for the third time in a row, nearly crushes the recyclable cup of coffee in his hands.

“Guanlin! This is Daniel! He's the tutor I was talking about--!” Daehwi says excitedly, and pats Daniel’s shoulder.

Daniel raises a brow in response, and Seongwoo, his boyfriend, does the same. They're similar, Guanlin thinks. “Tutor? Hey, I didn't agree to that ever.”

“But you will, right?” Daehwi says, and his eyes go all big and puppy-like. “Come on, hyung, you know I don't have the time to! I would if I could!”

For a moment, Daniel puts up a good front, pretends like he isn't affected by Daehwi’s cuteness, but eventually he gives in with a sigh, burying his face into his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“I guess I can,” Daniel whines playfully, and Daehwi cheers gratefully in his excitement.

“Yay, hyung, you're the best!” he exclaims, and hugs Daniel around the waist.

“What are you gonna do to repay me?”

“Free drinks whenever you come in!”

“You already do that, I think Minhyun is gonna get mad at you eventually,” Seongwoo speaks this time, letting out a little chuckle too.

“He can't. I’m too cute for him to get mad at.”

Then, there's a moment of silence, as Daniel and Seongwoo look at Daehwi in amusement, and Daehwi just stares back, proud and triumphant. Then Daniel finally sighs, moving past the shorter male and sits across from Guanlin. He peers at the piles of books that are spread across the table and Seongwoo leans coolly against the edge of the booth.

His eyes look friendly, Guanlin thinks. But he has a certain manly charm that contradicts the rest of his soft features. “Where are you from?” Daniel asks curiously.

“Taiwan--” Guanlin replies, throat feeling a little dry.

“Ah, and you know English?”

Guanlin nods, offering a smile. “Yeah, I lived in LA for a little while--..”

“Oh, LA!” Seongwoo says, straightening up, like he's had a sudden epiphany.

“Daehwi lived there too for a bit, I wonder if you knew each other..?” Daniel adds, raising a brow in curiosity. Guanlin merely laughs.

“LA is huge, so probably not--”

“Ah, you're right--” Daniel says, leaning back into the cushioned booth seats. They're still pretty new, but Guanlin still notices the patches upon them that are starting to wear a little. “Anyways, I'm Daniel. Nice to meet you, ah--...?”

“Guanlin,” he responds. “Nice to meet you, too.”

Daniel nods, smiling in satisfaction at his words. “Great, great. Ah, this is my boyfriend, Seongwoo; he's always with me, but he probably can't help you with Korean--”

“Hey--!” Seongwoo says defensively, and Daniel laughs to himself, then rubs at his boyfriend’s waist.

“Aigoo, I'm just kidding, babe--”

Seongwoo smacks Daniel’s head, and Daniel clings to his thigh apologetically.

* * *

****, Guanlin thinks.

“Ah, thank you,” the younger male finally brings himself to respond, his own eyes soft as he closes up a book. “When can we start?”

“Oh, how about tomorrow?” suggests Daniel. “Not busy, right?”

Guanlin shakes his head. “Nope! I’ll be here. Probably all day.”

“Aigoo--” Daniel whines playfully, before reaching across the counter and ruffling Guanlin’s hair. The action takes him by surprise, but he otherwise doesn't mind too much. “Too much coffee is bad for you.”

“Ah, I won't drink too much then--” he laughs sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head. Immediately after, he checks out the time on his phone and-- oh, it's almost five o’ clock already? Had he really been here is long? “Ah, I should go home now..”

Getting to his feet, Guanlin starts packing up his books, shoving them into his book bag one by one, then slinging it on his back. As he steps out of the booth, he bows politely at all of them, a wide smile over his face. “Thank you, everyone. I’ll see you tomorrow-- ah!”

With his head down, there's suddenly a weight on the back on it, a hand pushing him down and ruffling his hair, and an arm thrown around his neck, taking him into a headlock. The scream he let’s out probably catches a lot of unwanted attention, but he's too busy worrying about the huge load of books on his back weighing him down and almost bringing him to the floor to care.

“Aigoo-- you're so cute--” Seongwoo says, finally allows Guanlin's to stand and helping to straighten him up afterwards, leaving younger is a little dizzy and disoriented.

“Seongwoo-hyung, don't kill him on the first day you meet him--” Daehwi laughs.

“Sorry,” Seongwoo apologizes, and scratches at the back of his neck in embarrassment. Guanlin only laughs and shakes his head as his head stops spinning.

“It's okay. I’ll be heading out now then. See you all tomorrow!” With that, he waves goodbye, a happy smile on his face as he starts to exit the cafe.

And then he remembers— he's supposed to bring something back home for Juiyu. Hesitantly, he stops in his tracks and lets out a tiny sigh. The thought has him backtracking his steps a little, finally turning around on his heel again and walking confidently over to the front counter.

Jihoon is there.

He looks kind of startled, to see Guanlin suddenly walking up to him, but he cracks a smile anyways as the younger boy stops in front of him and looks down at him. “Oh? Are you-- ah… um-- going home?”

Ah, it's pitiful that it's still so hard to communicate with him, Guanlin thinks. If anything, learning the language so he can communicate with Jihoon more, with the other members of the cafe too seems really nice. He still hasn't said a word to Jinyoung (though really, he isn't sure what to say anyways), and he doesn't want Jihoon have to struggle with English every time they speak to each other.

One day, there won't be a barrier between them.

With a little smile, Guanlin nods in response. “Mmhmm, I’m going home now, but, ah.. Can I have another Americano?”

Jihoon blinks a little, processing his words before they finally register, and he gives a smile “o!” in acknowledgment. Guanlin thinks it's cute. Without another word, he quickly goes to fix up his drink, capping it off and then sliding it across the counter to him when it's done.

“Thank you,” Guanlin smiles, taking the hot drink into his hand. “See you tomorrow, okay?”

Guanlin waves goodbye to Jihoon, before turning to go home once more.

Their moment feels too short, but Guanlin hopes that it won't be their last.

-

“Ah, Jihoonie… This is no good.”

Jihoon is suddenly snapped out of his daze when Daniel calls his name from across the cafe. The older male is still sitting the same booth that Guanlin had been at only minutes before, before he had left for the day, out the front door of the cafe and leaving Jihoon to watch him go.

He had been a little jealous that Daniel and Seongwoo had gotten to talk to Guanlin more than he did throughout he day, but… He blamed that on the mere fact that he wanted to get close to the other male, but with the language barrier… It's hard. Daehwi and Daniel are lucky they can speak to him in English.

Across the room, Daniel smiles at him slyly, like he knows something Jihoon doesn't know, and Seongwoo has the same look on his face across from him, though he tries not to make it as obvious. Jihoon scrunches his nose in confusion. “What?”

At that, Daniel just shakes his head, taking a sip from his coffee and setting it gently back down on to the counter. “Nothing. Nothing at all--”

He then turns completely away from Jihoon, and engages in a conversation with Seongwoo that he can't quite hear from here, but it's obvious that his attention is now completely elsewhere. Jihoon frowns a bit, starts calling out for their attention, but they ignore him, and eventually, he gives up, sighing heavily. His friends are assholes.

When he turns around, Jinyoung is standing there too, and he has the same amused look that Daniel had on his face. Jihoon whines. “What? What is it?”

“I think you’ll figure it out soon, hyung,” Jinyoung says, then disappears into the back room, the double doors swinging shut behind him, and Jihoon sighs even louder this time.

His friends really are assholes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're having any troubles distinguishing between when the characters are speaking english or korean, let me know so i can come up with a way to make that easier for you! i know this story is moving along really slowly right now, but i promise that in a few chapters, it'll be a lot more panwink! please let me know what you think so far! thank you for reading!!
> 
> talk to me on twitter: @hyukbinified  
> buy me a ko-fi maybe?: https://ko-fi.com/caesthetics


	4. noon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the late late update! i've been really busy lately with school and work, and i had some family stuff going on too... plus i was working on my submission for panwink ficfest, which is really long... hopefully that'll be up soon!
> 
> this chapter is really short, but it's really cute and also somewhat important, so i hope you enjoy!!

It's been exactly two months since Guanlin had first stepped into the coffee shop, and admittedly, Jihoon’s a little jealous that he’s had the least amount of interactions with the other male.

Daniel and Daehwi talk to him frequently in English, and they both help him with his Korean quite a bit. Seongwoo learns a little from them two, and he's able to communicate with him every so often. Even Minhyun has met him, and though he isn't fluent in English, he knows enough to hold simple conversations with Guanlin. 

Jihoon still hasn't had a proper conversation with him. Everytime he comes up to the counter, he orders the same drink, his usual Americano, and Jihoon prepares it, not even bothering to ring him up for it anymore. Occasionally he’ll buy something else, but it's always like this. He wonders if he should even waste his time with the watch in his pocket, or he should just give it back already. Guanlin doesn't seem to be all that interested in him.

But then exactly two months later, and Guanlin is approaching the counter again. Jihoon sighs this time, looking disheartened and refusing to meet his eyes. Big brown eyes that he's tempted to gaze into, but he keeps himself from doing so. “Americano?” he says, and he's repeated it back so many times now that he's almost positive his pronunciation is perfect.

“Ah, no not this time.”

“Well then what? Because that's what you always--”

Wait. Jihoon pauses for a moment, blinking up at Guanlin a little in confusion. Guanlin just looks at him innocently, like he's confused at his sudden reaction.

“Wait… Did you just speak to me in Korean?”

At that, Guanlin nods slowly. “Y-yes?”

Jihoon stares at him dumbfoundedly. The words seem to have been forgotten already, but he's still left in awe. He looks behind Guanlin, focusing his vision to Daniel in his usual booth with Seongwoo. He's watching them, a wide grin on his face like he's proud of what he's accomplished.

“I'm.. You--...” Jihoon stutters, unsure of how to response.

“I'm not fluent…” Guanlin says sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. Jihoon can hear the accent in his words, and notices the way he pauses when he tries to find the words to say. “But I’ve been working hard. Daniel-hyung has taught me a lot in the past few months.”

The look of surprise remains on Jihoon’s face for a moment, before it quickly bloom into one of happiness. He grins wide before laughing softly, hiding the sound behind one of his hands.

“Ah, you surprised me,” Jihoon laughs. It's his turn to feel sheepish, unable to look Guanlin in the eye again as his cheeks turn red. “Wow, I’m impressed.”

Guanlin smiles, like Jihoon has just made his entire day with those words. “Really? Thank you!”

Jihoon nods and smiles back. “Mhm! So, what will it be today, if not an Americano?”

That's when Jihoon watches the younger boy’s face change a little bit. Instead of the joyfulness that had been there moments ago, Guanlin suddenly looks surprised, and then he looks nervous. He watches as he scratches at the back of his head, laughs sheepishly and stares at the ground. 

“Ah, well…” Guanlin begins. “I was actually wondering if I could sit and have a drink with you on your break.”

At those words, Jihoon freezes. He looks at Daniel next, who's in the corner, invested in a conversation with Seongwoo. Daniel must've translated something incorrectly for him.

“Excuse me--?” Jihoon manages to stutter, blinking in his surprise. “Ah, maybe you have some vocabulary wrong, I’m not a menu item here--”

“Huh?” Guanlin says back, furrowing his brow. “Oh--! No, um, I’m not ordering you, I just… I want to spend time with you? If you don't mind?”

Jihoon swallows hard, because, now that Guanlin’s said it twice, he knows that he means what he says. That means that Guanlin really does want to sit and talk to him during his break. 

The barista’s heart starts beating faster in his chest. Is this real? Jihoon thinks, as he thanks whatever gods allowed Lai Guanlin to be some kind of linguistics genius. Jihoon thinks he might have gone crazy, if he had to spend another day without proper interaction with him.

Jihoon stares at Guanlin for a moment. He's so handsome and tall… And his crooked smile makes Jihoon’s heart melt. Admittedly, he's attractive, but… 

No. Jihoon does not have a crush on him. It's just the fact that he's got Guanlin’s heart in his pocket that makes this feel so romantic, the fact that he listens to it every night to help him sleep, and that this is the first time he's actually getting to spend time with Guanlin…

Definitely not a crush.

“Ah, hyung..?” Guanlin says suddenly, and Jihoon snaps out of the daze that he's in.

“Oh--? Oh!” He finds that he's blushing suddenly, his cheeks hot with excitement. “Ah, okay… my break is in thirty minutes, is that okay…?”

For a minute, Jihoon watches as Guanlin counts on his fingers, quietly mumbling numbers in Korean, and truthfully, Jihoon really is impressed with his progress in such a short amount of time. That, and not to mention he looks super cute too.

“Thirty…” Guanlin repeats back to him, then smiles when it clicks. “Okay! I’ll be waiting with Daniel and Seongwoo hyung then. See you!”

Then Guanlin waves, and Jihoon waves back, watching him as he takes a seat next to Seongwoo. The second he arrives, Seongwoo and Daniel bring their attention to him, as he speaks so excitedly, that Jihoon can hear him from where he is. It's a weird mix of Korean and English— Jihoon guesses from the excitement— and while he can't really understand him, he sees Seongwoo patting him on the back, and Daniel reaching out for a high five. Jihoon can't help but wonder what they're talking about.

“What's going on?” Jinyoung says behind him as he sweeps the kitchen. Jihoon, though, has his eyes locked on Guanlin.

“I think… I have a date in thirty minutes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> talk to me on twitter: @wannabyui


	5. alarm

When Jihoon takes his break, Guanlin is still sitting in the same booth that he always sits at, a textbook in front of him and the latte that Jihoon made earlier going cold beside him.

Jihoon makes him another one, and on the way there he tries not to be a klutz and accidentally spill it all over the place, or even worse, all over Guanlin.

Fortunately, he makes it. Jihoon slides the hot latte over towards Guanlin, a hot chocolate for himself on the other side of the booth. He sits there and smiles nervously. Guanlin smiles back, and Jihoon thinks his smile is quite possibly the brightest thing he's ever seen.

“Hi,” Guanlin says shyly in Korean, and Jihoon beams back.

“Hello. How's studying going?”

Guanlin laughs a little before he closes the book in front of him. “Okay! I'm making progress,” he says. His accent is still thick, but Jihoon still understands, and it's fascinating. This boy who hardly knew a lick of Korean two months ago is having a conversation with him. He can hardly keep from smiling.

“Ah, that's good! Um.. How do you like it here so far?”

At his question, Guanlin pauses for a moment, like he's still trying to process the translation. But then he smiles again, replying excitedly. “Ah, I like it! I like coming here the most!”

And then Guanlin blinks a little-- “Ah, I was always a little disappointed because I never got to talk to you much…”

“Me?” Jihoon laughs softly, heart skipping a beat in his chest. Guanlin nods sheepishly.

“I got to talk to a lot of the employees here, but we never really spoke…” Guanlin says, looking down at his lap. Jihoon watches as his long fingers tap on his mug.

“Oh--” Jihoon says suddenly. The words somehow fluster him, and he feels glad to know that Guanlin had at least wanted to speak to him all those months ago, but never was able to properly communicate.

It's fascinating now, however, that he can even hold conversations with him like this. Truthfully, he feels a little guilty, because he could've been learning Mandarin instead of waiting for Guanlin to learn Korean. But this is exciting too, and he really applauds Guanlin’s hard work.

“I don't know much… but I’m learning quickly,” Guanlin says. His grammar is still a little off, but Jihoon still understands well and finds himself beaming at his words.

“Ah, maybe I could help you with that one--!” Jihoon suggests. While he couldn't help translate English like Daniel or Daehwi, Jihoon at least knew Korean. He could help with that, right?

“Okay,” Guanlin says in response, smiling like an angel. “I’ll come to you next time I need help with grammar and pronunciation--” he promises. Jihoon feels like the luckiest guy on the planet somehow.

“Deal!” he holds his pinky up to Guanlin, and when he links them together, Jihoon feels his heart warm a little in his chest.

It's in that moment that the beating of his own heart reminds him of the secret that he's kept from Guanlin for over two months now-- the pocketwatch belonging to the younger boy. It still ticks softly in Jihoon’s pocket right beside his own.

Jihoon wonders if Guanlin has given up searching for it at this point. He seems so carefree whenever he comes here that maybe it just isn't a concern of his anymore…? But that can't be the case Jihoon thinks. He knows the importance of a heart, and he knows well that losing it… Losing it meant actual heartbreak, sadness, depression. But the fact that Guanlin doesn't show any signs of any of those confused Jihoon a little, as he stares up at Guanlin, a hand feeling over the fabric of his jeans to make sure the clock is still there.

Guanlin must notice the curious expression on his face, because soon he's looking at him worriedly. He raises a brow a little before reaching over, bringing a hand over Jihoon’s closed fist on the table. “Jihoon-hyung--? Are you okay..?”

But Jihoon isn't expecting the sudden touch. He flinches, pulling away quickly. Big mistake.

Jihoon’s mug off hot chocolate tips over when his hand accidentally knocks into it. He gasps in surprise, picking it up right away, but the damage is already done. The sticky, hot substance leaks over the table, and some of it splatters— all of it in Guanlin’s direction.

The taller boy gasps, both in surprise and pain, the hot drink spilling over his lap. He jumps out of his seat, gaping at the mess on the table, on his lap, all over him.

Jihoon is struck with fear and humiliation. A mortified look washes over him, and it takes a minute for him to regain his senses. “G-Guanlin--! I’m so sorry, it was an accident, oh god--”

Jihoon starts scrambling for napkins, throwing a few down on to the table before moving to Guanlin’s side and helping him clean himself up too. He's removed his jacket, but the brown drink has gotten all over Guanlin’s white tee, and he feels horrible. He wants to cry, as he starts drying his shirt with a dry napkin.

Guanlin, though… He's an angel, Jihoon thinks. He can see the redness of embarrassment in his cheeks, but he still smiles a bright, gummy smile at him. It's a loon of reassurance, as he helps Jihoon pat him dry. “It’s okay, really. Accidents happen.”

Even so, Jihoon feels guilty. Once he's done his best with Guanlin, he checks to make sure that none of his text books are ruined, and luckily they aren't. There's one sigh of relief he can finally have.

Still, Jihoon can feel Guanlin's heart as it ticks in his pocket again. It's racing now, and Jihoon can't help but think that he's done something wrong, especially as Guanlin starts packing his things.

“Can I help you clean anything else..?” Guanlin says, scratching his head and gingerly holding what doesn't fit in his backpack in his arms. Jihoon just shakes his head.

“Ah, it's okay, I'll clean everything else then..” Jihoon mumbles, scratching at the back of his head.

“Okay…” Guanlin muggers softly, but he offers a small, encouraging smile. “I'm sorry I made a mess--”

“Aniyo, it wasn't your fault--!” Jihoon says. “If anything… I’m sorry, Guanlin-ah..”

He pauses for a moment, then smiles softly at him. “Okay… Ah, I’m gonna go home and shower then… See you around?”

Jihoon can't look him in the eye as he starts wiping down the table. “Okay,” he mutters to himself.

“Thank you again, hyung!” Guanlin says, and he walks weirdly out of the cafe, walking sillily with his wet clothes.

Jihoon watches him leave, frowning and feeling his heart ticking, even with how far he gets.

Way to go, Park Jihoon.

-

_from: kang daniel ; 3:21 pm_

BAE JINYOUNG

_from: kang daniel ; 3:21 pm_

HOW DID IT GO??

_to: kang daniel ; 3:21 pm_

what?

_to: kang daniel ; 3:22 pm_

oh wait

_to: kang daniel ; 3:22 pm_

if you're talking about jihoon and guanlin… not too well

_from: kang daniel ; 3:23 pm_

wHAW

_from: kang daniel ; 3:23 pm_

WHAT

_from: kang daniel ; 3:23 pm_

WHAT HAPPENED

_to: kang daniel ; 3:24 pm_

it was going fine for a while

_to: kang daniel ; 3:24 pm_

but then jihoon accidentally spilled a drink on guanlin’s lap.

_to: kang daniel ; 3:24 pm_

he's in the back room moping now

_from: kang daniel ; 3:25 pm_

oh god

_from: kang daniel ; 3:25 pm_

so… ice cream at his place tonight?

_to: kang daniel ; 3:26 pm_

bring mint.

_from: kang daniel ; 3:27 pm_

ok :((

-

As promised, Kang Daniel shows up to Jihoon’s house later that night with a pint of mint ice cream. Jinyoung is already there with him, the two of them sitting on the couch and watching a movie together.

Well… The movie plays in the background. Jihoon silks with his head in Jinyoung’s lap, and Jinyoung comfortingly plays with the older boy’s hair.

Daniel walks in, somehow feeling like he’s intruding on something. “Um.. I'm here?”

Jihoon immediately looks up. He only stares at Daniel for a quick moment before he's looking away again, sighing loudly in response. As much as he loves his friends, Jihoon just isn't in the mood to speak to anyone, and Daniel can tell.

Daniel sighs too, goes to put the ice cream in the freezer before joining the two of them on the couch. He frowns as he comfortingly rubs at Jihoon’s calf, looking down upon the other boy.

Jihoon’s always been like this, he thinks. Back in middle school, when he had been rejected from his first crush… Daniel remembers having to pamper his best friend for an entire week before he was feeling better again.

The worst part about this, however, is he's still pretty sure that Jihoon hasn't really recognized his feelings for Guanlin. For Daniel, Seongwoo, Jinyoung and Daehwi, Jihoon’s feelings for the Taiwanese boy are as clear as day. But he knows Jihoon is too stubborn to admit his feelings, especially out loud. This sulking, however, helps prove a point that they're all trying to prove.

“I'm sure he doesn't mind at all, Jihoon…” Jinyoung says over the movie. Daniel mutes it because no one is watching anyways.

“He's never going to come back--” Jihoon says bitterly. “How am I supposed to give him his heart back now…?”

And that's what catches Daniel’s attention a little. He sits up, raising a brow at Jihoon in shock. “Wait, what--? You have his heart?”

Jihoon looks up at Daniel innocently before nodding his head. “Do you want to see? It's pretty.”

“No I don't,” Daniel immediately rejects, “But you should give that back to him as soon as possible. He needs that, Jihoon-ah.”

“I was going to give it back today, but uh-- stuff happened..”

“No you weren't.”

“Yah--” Jihoon whines, warning Jinyoung to be quiet in his teasing.

Daniel, however, stares at Jihoon firmly. “Hey… you have to promise you're going to give that back the next time you see him, okay? This is serious, Jihoon, and you know it.”

With his head in Jinyoung’s lap, Jihoon just looks dejected. He frowns at Daniel’s words, but he knows that Daniel is right. Guanlin needs his heart… And Jihoon is wrong for keeping it to herself.

“I will…” Jihoon agrees. The scolding stops there at least. “Next time I see him.”

Daniel sighs, but he's still content with the answer: It's the best he's going to get for now. “Okay, good.”

Just then, there's a knock on Jihoon's door. “Must be Seongwoo with more snacks--” Daniel says, sacrificing his spot on the couch to answer the it.

However, when he unlocks it, he doesn't see his own handsome boyfriend standing there.

Instead, Lai Guanlin is standing there on Jihoon’s front porch, smiling sheepishly and rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Ah, is Jihoon here?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me about panwink on twitter! : @wannabyui


	6. time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so late; I've been kind of stuck with this story. I've had it outlined, but when it comes to writing it, it's suddenly a lot harder than I imagined to write what I want to write OTL but I don't want to give up on this story! However, I have strayed away from my original plot, so we'll see where that takes me.
> 
> Additionally, I'm learning that I really suck at writing multi-chaptered fics; writing long chapters is difficult for me, so as I learn to do that, for now updates will likely be pretty short, so I apologize for that. Please forgive me for being such a lazy author... ㅠㅠ

When Daniel calls Jihoon to the front door and he see Guanlin standing at the threshold, the barista makes a beeline for the bathroom and locks himself inside.

The sight of Guanlin petrifies him, because he's still not over the fact that he spilled a hot drink over his lap, or the fact that he's still got his heart in his pocket, and it’s beating quite rapidly in this moment. Jihoon slides down against the door, hugging his knees to his chest.

There's a banging at the door, but it doesn't startle him at all. “Jihoon, come out--!” Jinyoung calls. “Guanlin wants to talk to you!”

“Jihoon’s not home--” he calls back, and he hears Jinyoung scoff, unimpressed.

“Park Jihoon, I will break this door down--”

It's all talk of course. Jinyoung, while he's strong, definitely isn't strong enough to kick down a door, so Jihoon stays unmoving, moping and squishing his cheek against his knee.

Another loud bang shakes the door, but Jihoon still doesn't move.

It goes quiet after that. So quiet, that Jihoon thinks that everyone's left. So much for movie night, he thinks, though his idea of a movie night consisted of moping and lying in Jinyoung’s lap while Daniel fed him ice cream all night, and Seongwoo told him silly jokes until he was smiling again. Guanlin doesn't fit into this equation.

As it remains quiet, Jihoon sits up a little, curiosity bubbling within. Had his friends really gone home?

“Hyung?” Jihoon suddenly hears, and he gasps in surprise. Guanlin. 

“Jihoon-hyung, please open up,” Guanlin continues, his slurred words even more muffled behind the heavy wooden door. Jihoon swallows hard.

“I promise I’m not mad about the hot chocolate, just… please can you open the door? I'd rather talk to you than this giant piece of wood, heh--” 

Then it's quiet again. Jihoon hears his hear beating in his chest as he reaches into his pocket, pulling Guanlin’s heart out and opening up the stopwatch, watching the hands of the clock as they tick, tick, tick. If Guanlin isn't mad about the hot chocolate, he'll be mad about this, that's for sure. But there's still no way he can tell him. Jihoon doesn't have the courage to just give it away like that. 

“Jihoon?” 

Guanlin’s voice is soft, and Jihoon is sure that he can't lock himself in this bathroom forever. With a heavy sigh, he finally pushes himself off the floor and turns the knob, cautiously opening the door.

Behind it, Guanlin stands as tall as ever, lips curling into a smile as Jihoon finally reveals himself. Jihoon looks down right away; Guanlin's bright smile is too much for his poor heart. “Hyung--” the other says. 

“Where did the others go?” Jihoon asks quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“Um… Upstairs, I think? Yeah-- upstairs…” Guanlin says. He sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck as he smiles. “Hyung, can we just talk for a bit?”

Jihoon knows he hasn't done anything wrong (other than hiding Guanlin’s heart from him, but that's an entirely different story), but he's still humiliated. He still feels horrible for dropping a hot drink in Guanlin’s lap, and he feel ridiculous for hiding in a bathroom when he comes to see him. But Guanlin is gentle, and he smiles at him reassuringly. He places a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, and Jihoon lets himself be led to the living room without any protest. 

“Hyung,” Guanlin starts. “You know I’m not mad at you, right? For spilling the drink? It's really not a big deal.”

Jihoon pouts, his lower lip jutting out and he's still unable to meet Guanlin’s eye. “I ruined your shirt.. and I could've burned you.”

“Ah, no--!” Guanlin protests immediately. “I mean, it did hurt at first, but really, it's okay.”

Still, the older boy looks unconvinced. He glances up at Guanlin, in disbelief, and in return he shoots him a hopeful smile. “I just wanted to make sure you weren't beating yourself up over this… You aren't, right?”

Jihoon flushes, looks away shyly. “A-ah, of course not…”

“Yah…” Guanlin laughs and playfully shoves him. “You totally are.”

It's amazing to Jihoon, how easily Guanlin’s playful mood cheers him up. Somehow, he feels incredibly shy and comfortable at the same time, gaping at his suggestion, but his cheeks flushed red all the while. “I'm not--!” he stutters.

“Liar.” Guanlin pokes at his cheek, and Jihoon thinks that he has no shame. And then he sighs; it's a big, exasperated and totally exaggerated sigh, and it makes Jihoon raise his eyebrows in question. “Ah, fine… It really can't be helped then.”

“... What can't be helped?”

That's when Guanlin smiles so tooth-rottingly sweet that Jihoon suddenly feels so smitten. “I’ll just have to take you on a date to prove that I’m not angry at you anymore, and you have to take me on one to prove that you're really sorry!”

Guanlin goes on a little after that, but Jihoon finds himself blanking out after the word “date” leaves his lips. Date. The word feels heavy on his own tongue, throat dry as he practically struggles to repeat it, to confirm Guanlin’s words. He hawks at the younger boy incredulously.

“D-date..?” Jihoon says, suddenly cutting Guanlin off. “Yah-- do you know what the word date means? You might have the wrong idea…”

Guanlin stares, then nods firmly. “I do. It's an… outing. Sometimes between friends… usually between people who are more than friends, or want to be more than friends.”

Jihoon swallows at that. “Okay… And where… ah.. ” God, he can't ask. He really can't bring himself to say it.  
But then Guanlin is cocking a brow at him, leaning in so close that Jihoon feels his breath catch a little in his throat.

“Hm? What is it?”

“What kind of date is this then?” Jihoon finally brings himself to ask, miraculously managing to not throw up in the process.

Guanlin is quiet for a moment, but then he smiles hopefully. “The type between people who want to be more than friends..? That's the type of date we had at the coffee shop too, isn't it? Except this time, it'll be more planned out and less last minute!”

Beside him, Jihoon has practically ascended into a higher plane of being; if his heart weren't already locked in some pocket watch, he's almost sure it'd be bursting from his chest in his happiness. A shy smile spreads upon his lips as he looks up at Guanlin.

“You want to be more than friends..?”

Guanlin smiles softly back. “I mean.. We’ll see where it takes us, right?”

It's such an ambiguous reply that Jihoon isn't entirely sure what it should mean. Still, it's enough to bring him some kind of hope, hope that maybe Guanlin does feel the same way about him, whatever kind of silly, infatuated puppy love that this may be. Jihoon smiles so hard that his cheeks become full and round. 

“Okay…” he finally breathes. “A date then. To make it up to you.”

“And to prove that I'm not mad at you,” Guanlin adds. 

Jihoon beams from ear to ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me on twitter about panwink: @wannabyui


	7. stopwatch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I’m so sorry, it’s been such a long time since I’ve updated, and to tell you the truth, it’s mostly because I was planning to abandon this story. I wasn’t feeling it, it didn’t feel too special to me, so I was just going to drop it. But yesterday, I had been hit with a little inspiration, but it made me want to continue on with this fic. After all, it’s all outlined already, all I have to do is write everything out >__< but I will be continuing! Chapters will likely just be really short.. orz
> 
> As always, this is super unbeta’d, so if there are any mistakes that are really important, please let me know! Thank you, I hope you enjoy this update! ^_^

When the day finally comes for his date with Guanlin, Jihoon has no clue what he should wear. His room is scattered with discarded clothes, sweaters and jeans that he found weren’t satisfactory enough for a first date with the Taiwanese boy. Jinyoung finds himself buried underneath all of the clothes, blowing his hair out of his face in irritation.

“Seriously, Jihoon? It’s just a first date, I’m sure he won’t mind if you show up in a garbage bag—..”

“Pfft,” Jihoon snorts, rolling his eyes as he holds up a bright yellow sweater. He decides it’s not good enough either, blindly tossing it behind him where it lands perfectly on Jinyoung’s head.

“Hey!” the younger yells out, then huffs in frustration. “By the time you pick something out, you’ll be late to your date because you won’t even be able to get out of your room! Minhyun hyung would kill you if he saw this mess!”

“Then help me!” Jihoon finally sighs in frustration, throwing his hands up into the air. He pouts a little, and usually while Jinyoung would find the action cute, the way he rolls his eyes tells him that he’s more irritated than anything.

Still, the younger manages to free himself of the pole of clothes before digging through them, picking out something for the older to wear. Once he’s done, he lies the outfit out on Jihoon’s bed (or at least what’s left of it. The rest is completely buried in clothes). “Here,” Jinyoung says. “Wear this.”

It’s actually a pretty casual outfit, Jihoon thinks. A pair of light wash jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, with a red belt and matching sneakers to add color to the look. Jinyoung also adds a pair of fake specs to the outfit to make it even more stylish.

“Oh.. This could work,” Jihoon finally says. Then he looks up at Jinyoung with a bright smile before bringing him close, into a bone crushing hug. “Thank you Jinyoung! Have I ever told you you’re the coolest friend ever?”

The compliment actually makes Jinyoung smile, though he does his best to hide it behind another heavy sigh. “Yeah yeah, just get dressed before Guanlin starts wondering where you are. Make sure you don’t come home too late either, you still have to clean up this mess you made.”

Jihoon just beams brightly as he gathers his clothes and changes up, eager to go on his date.

—

Of course, Jihoon ends up running much later than he had hoped.

He’s barely outside of the house when Guanlin’s already texting him: _are you here yet?_ He response to let him know that he’s just left before quickly exiting the apartment building and hailing a taxi to get to the location Guanlin had specified. He hadn’t told him exactly what he had planned, but Jihoon is excited nonetheless.

As he smiles brightly, he reaches into his pocket and squeezes the little pocketwatch inside. Perhaps he could give Guanlin back his heart again too.. That would be a good idea, right? Despite the comfort it brings him, Jihoon knows that it’s best for him to get Guanlin’s heart back to him as soon as possible.

Still, he makes sure to take a peek at it one last time, taking it out of his pocket and running his soft fingers over its delicate features. The name _Lai Guanlin_ shines, and it brings a smile to Jihoon’s face.

The place he arrives at is called _Boomerang Skate_ , and Jihoon already has an idea of what kind of date he’s to be going on with Guanlin. Uneasiness settles in as he stares at the roller skate in the sign’s logo; Guanlin knows just how clumsy he is, how could he bring him to a place like this?

As he stares up anxiously, a voice suddenly calls out to him— “Jihoon-hyung!”

Waiting right outside the entrance of the building is Guanlin, and as he approaches Jihoon with a bright smile on his face, Jihoon can’t help but notice how good Guanlin looks on this particular day. His hair is styled up; usually it’s styled down, his messy locks swept over his forehead, making him look unfairly cute, in Jihoon’s opinion. Like this, however, Guanlin just looks handsome. His cheekbones seemed more defined, as well as the perfect shape of his face. He’s dressed in black jeans and a stylish long sleeved shirt, a pair of nice sneakers on his feet. He looks naturally boyish, Jihoon thinks, with a mature and handsome charm.

“You made it,” Guanlin says happily. He looks excited to see him.

“I did,” Jihoon says, chuckling nervously. “Although, why did you take us to a rollerblading rink? You know I’m clumsy!”

Guanlin snorts then before sheepishly scratching at the back of his neck. “Ah, I enjoy it… I really like sports, so I was hoping we could do something fun like this together. I’m sure you’re not that bad though—”

“I can barely walk on my own two feet, what makes you think I can skate with them,” Jihoon jokes. Guanlin laughs too, but eventually ends up tugging at his wrist, beckoning for him to follow him inside.

“You’ll do great, I’m sure,” Guanlin reassures. “Come on, let’s go inside!”

At Guanlin’s words, Jihoon follows the taller boy inside, nervously fiddling with the bottom of his jacket. He notices that Guanlin doesn’t seem to be nearly as anxious as him, especially considering the language barrier between them. If he’s being honest, however, Guanlin has certainly improved a lot, to a point where Jihoon wouldn’t doubt his abilities to conversationally communicate, whether it’s with him or even other people around them.

As they arrive, Guanlin confidently heads to the rental station. He greets the employee before asking for skates in his size, a pair for Jihoon as well before paying for both. Jihoon sheepishly accepts his, a light flush staining his cheeks.

“Ah, you didn’t have to pay for me, you know..” Jihoon says, feeling rather guilty as he sits beside Guanlin. The other has already kicked off both sneakers and is in the process of lacing up his skates.

“It’s no problem,” Guanlin responds. “Besides, I asked you out anyways, I figured I should at least treat tonight.”

Jihoon smiles at that, looking up at Guanlin before he finishes lacing up his skates as well. “Well thank you, then. I’m afraid I’m really bad at roller skating though..”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you out,” Guanlin promises as he tucks their shoes into a locker, then reaches out his hand to Jihoon. The older boy stares for a moment before smiling, gratefully taking his hand in his.

Immediately, Jihoon finds that, despite the perfect fit, his skates feel heavy, and they’re hard to balance in. His grip on Guanlin’s hand tightens a little, and Guanlin chuckles, inching closer to the struggling boy.

“Relax,” he says, placing a hand on Jihoon’s back to help calm him down. “Try walking with the first, just to get used to having them on your feet.”

Jihoon nods. At least here on the carpet, it’s not as slippery as it is in the rink. For now, he just has to practice keeping his balance and lifting his feet. Slowly and carefully, he does his best to lift the wheels of his skates off the ground before taking little steps forwards, making sure Guanlin is near the whole time.

“Good,” Guanlin says. “Now try sliding them over the floor. Step with the front of your foot and gently push back to give yourself momentum.”

Guanlin’s instructions are clear, but Jihoon still is uncertain on how to properly carry them out. He imagines his feet tangling up before giving out from underneath him, leaving him in a mess of limbs on the floor. Guanlin must feel his anxiety however, because he gives another little squeeze of his hand. Jihoon looks up then. The reassuring smile on his face matches his words: “Come on, you can do it.”

Just as Guanlin had instructed, Jihoon pushes forward on his skates a little; he doesn’t move far, but he is does move, and the small distance is definitely enough to surprise even himself. “I did it—!” Jihoon says excitedly.

Guanlin brings his hands together to clap. “Good jo-!”

“No, don’t let go!” Jihoon panics, immediately reaching out for Guanlin’s hand again. The other boy looks at him with a surprised look on his face. Then it easily softens as Guanlin laughs melodically.

“It’s okay, I’m here, like I said,” Guanlin hums. “Did you wanna try going out on the rink? We’ll stay close to the wall, so you have something to grab on to, too.”

Jihoon purses his lips. He feels that he’s just barely getting used to the carpeted floors, he’s not sure if he can actually head out on to the rink just yet. Still, he wants to be able to continue learning so that he doesn’t have to burden Guanlin with this, have him hold his hand all the way through (of course, he’s not complaining about the hand holding, but still). He contemplates a moment before he finally nods, a determined look in his eyes.

“Okay,” Jihoon says. “Lets do it!

Guanlin grins. “Ooh, I like your attitude!”

Jihoon laughs softly, and shortly after, Guanlin leads them to the entrance of the rink. He practically stinks on the carpet with the weight of his skates, but as he steps on to the rink, everything feels different. His skates are still heavy of course, but everything feels lighter, as if his slipping, sliding down with gravity pulling him down, and—

Oh. That’s why it had felt so weird when he entered the rink. He had fallen right away.

A slight sting makes Jihoon hiss as he hits the ground, and a gasp escapes Guanlin’s lips as he kneels beside him. “Jihoon-hyung! Are you okay? Sorry, I didn’t think it would be so sudden, or I wouldn’t caught you..”

“No, it’s okay—..!” Jihoon says, laughing shyly as he scratches at the back of his neck. “Um, I wanna try again…”

Guanlin nods, then quickly helps him back up, bringing him on to his feet. This time, Jihoon makes sure to hold on to Guanlin with one hand, the wall with the other, as he slowly picks up the skates in his feet and does his best to get used to the feeling of the smooth surface beneath his feet.

It’s a weird situation, actually, Jihoon thinks. He feels like he’s gliding, rather gracefully too, contrasting his usual harsh and clumsy movements. As time passes, he starts to feel more comfortable with skating too, his grip on the wall loosening, all while the one on Guanlin’s hand tightens. A smile spreads on his face as he speaks all of it in; the way he almost seems to fly over the rink, the ambience and atmosphere of this place, with ultra violet lights and fun music, and most importantly, the cute, tall boy at his side, smiling brightly down at him. Jihoon wonders if he’s an angel.

“You’re doing really well at this, Jihoon! I told you that you’d get the hang of it!” Guanlin praises, shouting a little over the music. The praise makes Jihoon flush, a smile fluttering over his lips too as he looks down shyly.

“Thanks!” Jihoon cheerily replies. “Guess I just had a good teacher, hm?”

Guanlin laughs happily at that, and when he feels he hand tightening around his, Jihoon feels his heart clench, beat quickly in excitement. He looks up, and Guanlin is practically beaming. He looks so cheerful, and the sight is so blindingly beautiful, Jihoon can’t believe it’s real. Even under the lights, Guanlin looks unfair and unreal, captures every ounce of Jihoon’s attention.

Which is unfortunate, because the sudden lack of attention to his surroundings has Jihoon suddenly tripping on his skates, sending him tumbling to the ground.

“W-woah—!” Jihoon yells out surprise before he topples over, falling straight on to his butt, and unfortunately, bringing a whole Lai Guanlin along with him. He hears Guanlin fall rather than sees it, and instead of landing straight on to the ground like he had done so, Guanlin lands right on top of him, hands on either side of Jihoon’s head as he braces his fall.

“Sorry—!” Jihoon apologizes frantically. “I should’ve paid better attention, I’m so—..!”

And then Jihoon notices just how close Guanlin is. His face is only inches away from him, so close that he can see the very tiny pore on Guanlin’s nose, the wrinkles on his soft lips. Jihoon blinks, unable to keep from staring at the unbelievably gorgeous boy on top of him. “Sorry…” he repeats again under his breath.

Guanlin just laughs. “It’s okay. Accidents happen. I’m sorry I fell on you… Oh, you dropped this!”

Jihoon watches then as Guanlin picks up a small something beside his head. He hadn’t even seen it leave his pocket, honestly, and the second he sees Guanlin pick the object up, he feels his stomach sink. It’s small and round, has a metallic shine to it that makes it easily recognizable to Jihoon.

There in Guanlin’s hands is his own pocket watch, the same one that Jihoon has been keeping from him for weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> talk to me on twitter! : @wannabyui  
> curiouscat: wannabyui


	8. sunset

“You… This is…”

Jihoon swallows hard as Guanlin inspects the item in his hand. If he hadn’t felt unstable on his skates before, he certainly does now, knees wobbling beneath him as the whole world spins before him.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Sure, there’s probably no easy way for Jihoon to just… admit that he’s been holding on to Guanlin’s heart for some time now, but… For Guanlin to find out like _this_ … Jihoon wants to crawl into a hole, hide under a rock and never come out.

He watches as Guanlin flips the small pocket watch between his fingers, running a thumb over the inscription of his name on the back. The taller male’s expression is unreadable, but Jihoon finds that he can’t look at him anyways, with how ashamed he feels.

“Why do you have this?” Guanlin asks, finally bringing his gaze away from the watch, and to Jihoon instead. The older boy just looks down at his skates, stays silent in the wake of his words.

Silence, however, apparently doesn’t bode well with Guanlin, and only after a few moments pass does he finally drag him out of the rink. Jihoon gasps in surprise, doing his best to steady himself as he’s suddenly pulled along, and only when they’ve stopped, are seated across from each other at the resting benches is Jihoon able to relax… At least in the sense that he isn’t going to fall on his ass again. The looming uncertainty of what Guanlin will say to him, will _do_ to him with his discovery has Jihoon still feeling worried.

“Hey— relax.”

The words, while they are meant to be comforting, only make Jihoon tense up even more. Maybe because they are unexpected. He looks up at Guanlin in surprise, and he finds that he doesn’t really look all that angry. Perplexed, yes. A little uncertain, yes. But Jihoon can’t find a trace of anger in his wide eyes.

“I’m not mad,” Guanlin finally says, confirming Jihoon’s one suspicions. But he doesn’t take a breath of relief just yet. “I just want to know why you have this, and why you never told me about it.”

Again, Jihoon looks down. He had known that eventually, he’d have to explain himself, but he had never figured out just how. And now that the time has come, he’s still unsure, afraid of speaking, and letting the words flow like vomit, saying something he doesn’t mean to say.

“Please talk to me.”

Jihoon’s hands clasped in his lap tighten a little, and he bites at his lower lip before he sighs. There really is no point in hiding it anymore. He’s already ruined their date, and well… If Guanlin is to be angry at him for this, then so be it. He probably deserves it anyways, he thinks.

“I found it…” Jihoon begins, his voice unsteady as he stares down at Guanlin’s skates. “It was left in that booth that you always sit at in the shop. I don’t think I knew you back then, otherwise I think I would’ve given it back to you sooner than later.”

Guanlin breathes softly, and Jihoon realizes how he seems to be analyzing the taller boy’s every action, for fear of how he may react to his words. So far, so good, he thinks. He doesn’t seem distressed or angered just yet.

“Okay,” he says. “Then why did you keep it?”

This is the hard part, Jihoon finds. Sure, he’s sorta kinda on a date with Guanlin right now, and Jihoon thinks that warrants at least _some_ kind of mutual attraction between the two of them. But even so, he doesn’t think he can just confess his reasoning for keeping Guanlin’s heart in his possession for so long. It sounds creepy, now that he thinks about it, and he’s almost certain that Guanlin would feel the same way. Still, he has no choice. Lying probably isn’t his best option, given the circumstances in the moment.

So Jihoon sighs and lets the floodgates open.

“It’s because I thought it was comforting, okay? I meant to give it back as soon as I found out who it belonged to, but then I found that I just really liked listening to it tick, especially at night. It helped me sleep sometimes—..”

He realizes he’s just rambling now, but now that he’s spoken, he can’t stop, and he has to explain himself before Guanlin gets the wrong idea. The other boy is already looking at him incredulously as he speaks, and he can’t decipher what he’s thinking, but he continues anyways, barely taking a breath between words.

“I kept it, even though I knew I should’ve given it back to you,” he says, looking up at the other. “All of my friends told me to give it back to you too, but as time passed, I became more and more worried about what you’d think when you found out that I had been keeping it from you for so long.”

What follows afterwards is silence. They’re staring long and hard at each other, but while Guanlin is trying to make sense of Jihoon’s words, Jihoon is desperately beginning for forgiveness with his eyes. He feels silly, being this affected by something so trivial, but… He doesn’t want to lose Guanlin. Not just as he’s getting to know him.

And then Guanlin sighs, tucking his watch into his pocket and then leaning forward, an elbow resting on his knee and his chin on his palm. He stares up at Jihoon, closer to his face than he had been before, and Jihoon feels his heart tighten a little.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “I should’ve just given it back to you as soon as I knew it was yours.”

“It’s okay.”

The response is so immediate that Jihoon is taken aback, and he blinks a few times, as if it’ll help him process the words that Guanlin has just spoken. “Wait, what?”

“I said it’s okay—” Guanlin responds and sits up again. “It’s not a big deal.”

Though the words leave Guanlin’s mouth and Jihoon hears them loud and clear, he still can’t believe that they are true. He stares at Guanlin in disbelief before he leans in suddenly, furrowing his brow a little. “You’re not messing with me, are you?”

At that, Guanlin laughs a little and shakes his head. “I’m not. I forgive you, really.”

“O-oh…” Jihoon responds, blinking as the words finally hit him. He had apologized, and Guanlin had accepted it that easily. A small glimmer of hope ignites within him, and he feels his spirits lift a little, a small smile spreading over his lips. He still has his questions, of course, like if the whole thing isn’t weird to Guanlin, or why he’s so forgiving in the first place, and he’s about to open his mouth to ask when—

“We should head home now, don’t you think? It’s been a long day.”

As always, Guanlin takes him by surprise. He hadn’t been expecting the abrupt statement, and he freezes on the spot before he brings himself to nod slowly in agreement. “Oh.. Okay. If you’re tired, then we can call it a day.”

Guanlin smiles again, humming softly before he starts to remove his skates, helping Jihoon take his off too before return his sneakers to him. He slides them back on, and as Guanlin goes to return their skates to the rental desk, he can’t help but feel like something is definitely off.

Why would Guanlin forgive him so easily?

When he returns, he simply waves Jihoon up to follow him out. There’s a weird air of awkwardness as they leave to place together, and as they wait for their rides to arrive, more silence that Jihoon has dreaded.

Guanlin’s father arrives to pick him up first, and as he pulls up to the curb, he turns to Jihoon and offers him a small smile. “I had fun. Thanks for returning my watch back to me.”

Jihoon smiles back, lips pressing into a thin line as he nods. “Me too! Let’s do it again sometime okay? See you at the shop?”

He sees the hesitance in the way that Guanlin responds, lips twitching up into an uncertain smile and a hand scratching at the back of his neck. Still he nods and gives Jihoon a little thumbs up before waving goodbye, jumping into the passenger’s seat of the car. Jihoon watches as he drives off, and it’s only when he’s left completely alone that he feels a sense of dread wash over him.

Guanlin may have forgiven him, but things were definitely not okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me on twitter: @wannabyui  
> bother me on curiouscat: @wannabyui


	9. today

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an update? omg?

Guanlin doesn’t return to the coffee shop for two whole weeks.

On the first day, Jihoon pretends not to notice. After all, it’s not like he’s obligated to visit every single day. Maybe he has other things to do, like spending time with his family, or doing chores at home.

On the second day, a little worry starts to settle in. Jinyoung convinces him that he’s just being irrational; he could always text Guanlin if he really thinks there’s something wrong, Jinyoung reminds him, so Jihoon does just that. But of course, Guanlin doesn’t respond. Not when he asks how he’s doing, and not when he sends him a good night text later the same day. He decides not to text him for a while after that, in hopes that he doesn’t seem too clingy or desperate for a response.

By day five, it’s not only Jihoon that notices. Daniel and Seongwoo lounge around the cafe, and Jihoon feels his heart sink a little when Daniel asks why the younger hasn’t been around recently. Jihoon just shrugs before pretending to wipe down the same table that he’s been wiping down for the past thirty minutes already.

And at the end of two weeks, Jihoon gives up hope that Guanlin is ever going to come back.

Earlier in the week, Daehwi had called him dramatic. “He’ll come back eventually. He’s never away that long.” But now, Daehwi looks just as downtrodden as he does, Guanlin’s absence leaves a lasting effect, and Jihoo. can’t help but feel guilty because of it.

How could he have been so stupid? All he had to do was give Guanlin back his stopwatch. Instead, he had chosen to keep it, selfishly holding on to it despite knowing how important the small item is to him.

He wonders if there’s someone Guanlin wants to give his heart to. The fact that he isn’t here right now… It means it probably isn’t him, and the feeling leaves an ache in Jihoon’s chest.

The work day drags on, and Jihoon just wants to go home. The sun has began setting already, and less customers fill the small cafe. Jihoon stands at the front counter with a bored expression on his face. Even when the bell at the front door rings to signal a customer’s entrance, Jihoon doesn’t look up, unenthusiastic as he greets the customer before him. “Welcome in.”

“Welcome in? That’s all the greeting I get?”

The familiar voice immediately has Jihoon perking up, shoulders tending and eyes widening as he looks at the customer before him. Sure enough, Lai Guanlin stands there, as tall and handsome as ever. His gummy smile is bright and warm, contrasting with the cool appearance that his black leather jacket and dark skinny jeans give off.

Jihoon stares in shock, stuttering back a response. “G-Guanlin, you… Where have you been?”

Jihoon figures the question should be expected, yet Guanlin still looks rather flustered, looking away and pursing his lips softly. “It’s… It’s a long story. We can talk about it another time..”

The answer doesn’t sit too well with Jihoon however; as worried guilty as he feels for keeping Guanlin’s heart from him for so long, Guanlin had sworn he wasn’t upset with him. “Don’t you think I deserve a little bit of a better explanation than that?” Jihoon huffs.

A surprised look crosses Guanlin’s face at the sudden shift in tone in the other’s voice, and for a moment, Jihoon worries that perhaps he’s angered him even more. If he had been upset at the heart thing, then he’d really hate him now, Jihoon thinks.

But Guanlin only sighs, shaking his head a little. “You do… But I can’t talk about it right now. I promise it has nothing to do with you, though. I meant it when I said I wasn’t upset about the… The uh, heart thing.”

He’s a little reluctant to believe him, Jihoon knows he wouldn’t forgive someone keeping something important from him for so long, but… Guanlin seems sincere. It’s such a strange turn of events, because as the younger stands on the other side of the counter, it’s almost as if he’s the one begging for forgiveness, when all this time, Jihoon has felt as if he’s the one peeing all the apologies in this situation.

Finally, Jihoon sighs. “Okay… I believe 80 percent believe you.”

Guanlin’s eyes nearly bug out of their sockets. “80 percent only?!”

At this, Jihoon laughs playfully. He leans against the counter as he tilts his head, offering a little smile up at the taller boy. “Yeah, 80. You’re gonna have to do something for me to prove that you’re not upset, as you say.”

The boy pouts a little at his words, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, what do you want me to do then?”

Jihoon grins. “Another date?”

Guanlin blinks, and Jihoon eagerly awaits his reaction. Finally, he raises a brow in amusement. “Ah, are you really asking me on a date this time? Wow, Jihoon-hyung, didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Yah!” Jihoon exclaims defensively, though he’s turned a bright red, unable to meet Guanlin’s gaze. He’s suddenly shy again, scratching at the back of his neck as he laughs sheepishly. “I mean… I didn’t think I did either but… I just want to be sure I still have a chance, at least.”

The smile on Guanlin’s face doesn’t disappear then. If anything, it grows fonder, and he giggles at Jihoon’s words. “That’s… Sweet. Okay then. Yes, let’s go on another date. Your redemption date.”

“Redemption?!”

“Yeah!” Guanlin says, as if it’s obvious. “For taking my heart… and for falling so much at the roller skating rink. I had so many bruises when I got home!”

“That wasn’t my fault! I told you I wasn’t good at it!”

“I’m only joking—” Guanlin laughs, shaking his head. His laughter finally does down as he smiles fondly at Jihoon again. “So… Another date? How about this Friday night?”

Jihoon nods. “That’s perfect, actually… What is this, our third date? It’ll be perfect, then. Third time’s the charm, right?”

Guanlin grins, nodding in agreement. “Let’s hope so.”

After that, Jihoon brews Guanlin his usual, and the taller boy departs soon afterwards, giving a little wave to Jihoon and all of the other employees in the store.

Jihoon nearly collapses from his relief and excitement. Daehwi smacks him with a wet rag and tells him to get back to work.

—

“What will you do this time?”

“Dinner and movie?”

“That seems too formal…”

“I really can’t believe he’s giving you another chance— ouch!”

“Don’t be an asshole, Woojin,” Jinyoung huffs at the older boy that sits across from him in their booth. Woojin rubs at the spot that he’s kicked in his shin, pouting at him.

“I’m not! I’m just saying, on the first date, he spilled a drink on him. On the second, he fell on him, and then he found out that Jihoon had been keeping his heart all this time. What else could go wrong?” He frowns as he sips on his milkshake, scowling at Jinyoung.

“Shut up, you’re stressing me out even more,” Jihoon whines, letting out a heavy sigh and leaning his elbows on the table. He brushes his hair back with his hands. The burger in front of him has been left mostly untouched, only a few fries dipped in ketchup and finding their way into Jihoon’s belly. But other than that, he uncharacteristically has not had a single bite to eat.

“I’m sure he’ll like whatever you take him to do though,” Woojin says, leaning on his elbow. “The kid adores you.”

Jihoon perks up at that. “He does?”

“Sure he does. He comes into the shop all the time just for you. And I don’t know anyone else that would be okay with some stranger holding on to his heart for so long— ouch! Jinyoung!”

Jinyoung grins mischievously, sipping quietly on his milkshake.

“You’re a punk,” Jihoon rolls his eyes. “Well I just… Really don’t know where to take him. It’s my first time planning one of our dates, and my first time practically planning a date at all, so… So yeah, I’m just a little bit more nervous than usual.”

“How about taking him to a cat cafe?” Jinyoung finally suggests. “I’ve been with Daehwi before. He loves going to them.”

Jihoon brightens a little at that. He’s heard of cat cafes before, though he’s never quite been to one. But the idea of having a nice lunch date with Guanlin in a room full of cats… That sounds both fun and romantic, Jihoon thinks. He smiles a little at Jinyoung. “That sounds like a great idea? Are there any nearby?”

“There’s one about two miles from here? It’s pretty popular so you’ll need to make reservations, but… But I think you’ll be fine. I’ll get you the number—”

As promised, Jinyoung pulls out his phone and texts the number to the cat cafe to Jihoon. He saves it and reminds himself to contact them soon.

“Great,” Jihoon grins. “It’ll be a surprise then.”

“What if he doesn’t like cats?” Woojin chimes in, and Jinyoung throws a wad of straw wrappers at him.

“Can you stop being so pessimistic!” It’s a joke of course, but Jihoon is still rather paranoid because of it.

“You’re right,” he frowns. What if he doesn’t like cats?”

Jinyoung sighs and shakes his head. “Seriously, don’t listen to him. Everyone loves cats, you’ll be fine.”

At that, Jihoon purses his lips a little before nodding in agreement. “You’re right! Everyone loves cats! Then I’ll call tonight. Thank you, Jinyoung!”

The younger smiles, happy to have helped. Their conversation goes elsewhere, but Jihoon can’t help but to think about the upcoming date in the back of his mind. With his appetite back, he finishes the rest of his burger too, smiling the rest of the night.

—

When Friday rolls around, Jihoon is excited.

He makes the reservations for the cat cafe as soon as possible. Max time is two hours, but Jihoon thinks that’s plenty; they could grab another bite to eat afterwards, or just hang out at his house too.

He tells Guanlin to bring an appetite, but he doesn’t tell him where they’re going, keeping his word of keeping the date a surprise.

At exactly 2PM in the afternoon, he shows up at Guanlin’s doorstep. He debates on whether he should bring flowers or not, and eventually, he settles in just a single pink rose— he doesn’t want to be too dramatic. They’re definitely not anything serious yet.

With the rose clutched to his chest, he swallows nervously. He double checks the address, once, twice, making sure he’s got the right one before he finally brings a finger up to ring the doorbell.

His heart pounds, and he swallows hard in anticipation.

“Coming!” A voice announces from inside. He immediately recognizes it as Guanlin’s voice, and a smile reaches his lips, fingers tightening around the stem of the rose.

As the door opens, Jihoon finds himself holding his breath in, waiting eagerly. And when Guanlin answers, he smiles brightly, matching the warm look on Guanlin’s own handsome face.

“Hyung!” he greets cheerfully. “You’re here.”

Jihoon chuckles softly. “Did you think I wasn’t coming?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it,” Guanlin laughs too, sheepishly scratching at the back of his neck. Then he notices the rose. He freezes a little before pointing at it hesitantly, raising a brow. “Is that for me…?”

Jihoon blinks before looking down, then jumping as he remembers the small flower in his hand. “Oh—! Yeah… I brought this for you.” With an awkward smile, he hands over the small gift, a blush painting his cheeks as his fingers brush against his. Electricity. Jihoon feels it when they touch.

“Oh… Thank you,” Guanlin says warmly, giving the flower a little sniff before grinning down at Jihoon once more. “I’ll put this in a little vase, and then we can get going!”

At this, Jihoon nods in understanding, watching as Guanlin disappears into the house for another quick minute, then reappearing suddenly, closing the door behind him. Once he’s all locked up, he turns to Jihoon again, tidying himself up. “Alright! Where to today?”

Jihoon grins mischievously. “It’s a secret,” he whispers playfully before tugging Guanlin along, a bright smile plastered over his lips.

—

Jihoon is almost certain that the entire universe is completely against the idea of him and Guanlin together.

As they arrive at the cat cafe (the bus ride had been nice; it was fairly uncrowded, so they had plenty of time to talk with each other, having idle, engaging conversations with one another), Jihoon can’t help but to squeeze Guanlin’s hand in his, showing off the cute place to him. The exterior is perfectly decorated with little paw prints in the shape of hearts all over a deep red wall, the words _Cat Cafe_ in bold letters displayed just above the door.

Guanlin should be excited, Jihoon thinks. But as he glances over at the taller boy, Jihoon notices the smile on his face slowly start to fade away.

“What…” Jihoon frowns. “What is it? Don’t tell me you’re more of a dog person…”

“No, no—!” Guanlin shakes his head, pouting guiltily. “I like cats too, but it’s just… I’m actually really allergic to them….”

Jihoon blinks then. Oh.

At this point, he’s almost certain that he’s never going to have a proper date with Guanlin— not one that doesn’t end in total disaster, at least. At the younger’s confession, he sighs dramatically, facepalming himself. “God, I should’ve asked, I’m so sorry… I even brought us all the way out here and then I…”

“No!” Guanlin interrupts. “Don’t apologize. It was fun, right? We enjoyed the ride here… And we still have plenty of time to go somewhere else.”

The younger grins at him, and though he still feels rather guilty, Jihoon pulls out his own pocketwatch, looking st the time with a curious expression. Guanlin’s right— they still have plenty of time.

“Ah, I don’t know the area that well, though…” he frowns, scratching at the back of his head.

“That’s fine!” Guanlin reassures, taking Jihoon’s hand in his again. “We’ll just… Walk around until we find something, hm?”

As disheartened as Jihoon is that his original plan hadn’t been too successful, he’s still rather glad that Guanlin hasn’t abandoned him yet, still wants to spend time with him. And as much as he had been looking forward to playing with the cats, Jihoon thinks he enjoys Guanlin’s company much more than the furry-legged felines. As he tugs his hand, Jihoon follows again, smiling softly at Guanlin before he does his part in looking around, finding somewhere else to go for their date.

“Bowling?” Guanlin suggests.

“I’m really bad at that, though…”

“Me too.. Arcade?”

“Is there one nearby?!”

“Uh… I don’t know?”

Jihoon frowns again then, slumping his shoulders a little. Without Jinyoung and Woojin to help him, Jihoon really doesn’t know what to do. He keeps walking dejectedly, the only thing keeping him going is Guanlin by his side, their hands fit together perfectly as they navigate the streets together.

“How about a cafe?” Guanlin suggests, and Jihoon scowls.

He’s tired of cafes. They remind him of work too much, and all of his failed dates with Guanlin. A cafe certainly isn’t his ideal date, but the way the younger’s face lights up as he sees it makes Jihoon weak— and truthfully, he’s tired of walking around too. At this point, he’ll settle for anything.

A sigh escapes, and Jihoon smiles exasperatedly. “Sure. Lets go in.”

Guanlin grins before holding the door open.

Jihoon just hopes that the saying is right, and that three times truly is the charm.

 


End file.
